beach wedding ideas • sand dollars

living in los angeles, i am privileged to have easy access to the beach — the inspiration for today's blog, which is all about one of my favorite beach wedding elements, the sand dollar.

elegant, nautical, and whimsical at once, the sand dollar offers dozens of design possibilities for a perfect beach wedding. from chic beach wedding invitations, to tactile escort cards, to amazing photo and decor options, these are just a handful of the ideas available for your seaside event.

design and photo credits

first row — {shell escort cards} laura hooper calligraphy • {napkins} family circle • {striped cake} cake work

second row — {wedding rings} lisa schaffer photography • {silk box invitations} paper olive • {beer escort cards} laura hooper, photo by lisa franchot photography, via bridal bar

third row — {boutonniere} blue flourish • {floral centerpiece} maimy m&m via flickr • {ring pillow} to have and to hold

the condor's nest ranch

a good friend turned me on to this fabulous southern california gem today, and i simply had to share with you immediately — the condor's nest ranch in pala, california.

on a perfectly secluded california ranch, the condor's nest is not only naturally beautiful, but designed to make the planning process an absolute breeze. their packages are full of options and amazing prices, and the views are...stunning.

owner's bob and lisa have this to say: "we are committed to making the overwhelming process of planning your wedding day as easy as possible! ...we include as complete a package as we can so you can focus on the fun details (cake, flowers, invitations!) and being as creative as you want to be! (for the non-creative types we can do it for you, or recommend someone who can!!)."

if you're planning a los angeles wedding and want a unique, all-inclusive venue, give it a whirl.

photo by amy kaplan.

win a $100K wedding from us weekly & wedding channel

want the chance to win a $100,000 wedding hollywood style? then listen up, brides and grooms.

weddingchannel.com and us weekly today announced the launch of their 3rd annual “dream wedding” program — a contest for celeb-loving engaged couples to win a $100,000 hollywood-style wedding. the winning couple will get a wedding planned entirely by weddingchannel.com and their favorite a-list wedding experts. as if that weren’t enough, all of the wedding details will be profiled in us weekly magazine, usmagazine.com/wedding and weddingchannel.com.

details, details:

• today to july 29 — enter the contest at www.usmagazine.com/wedding
• august 3 to august 10 — 10 couples will be announced online, and america votes for their favorite couple
• august 13 to september — the dream wedding winning couple is announced online and the wedding planning begins!

according to the peeps at wedding channel, thousands of couples have entered past contests and there have been millions of votes for people’s favorite couples, so they can’t wait to see the submissions this year. what are you waiting for, get started! and good luck. :o)

artisan wedding cakes from superfine bakery

okay, so when i love something, i can sometimes get a little...obsessed. and my obsession with superfine bakery, an artisan cake shop based out of studio city, california, is no exception.

i've had the pleasure of tasting superfine's creations, which are, quite simply, cakes for foodies. superfine believes that cakes should not only look exceptional, but be made of exceptional quality and extra-mile ingredients like italian butter cream and madagascar vanilla. i agree.

but more than that, i am nuts about their latest cake designs, expertly photographed by andrea bricco, which are equally high-concept and exceptional. i don't know which i like better — the clean mod design with the simple black allium flowers, or the uber chic ocean/orchid creation, with its delicate piped coral and ron ben-israel quality sugar flowers.

what's your favorite?

color splash miami • inspired

as you may have noticed from my recent posts, i am obsessed with the colors and freshness of miami lately. one major obsession is color splash miami on hgtv.

not only are david bromstad's interior design transformations dramatic and vibrant, they are fabulous inspiration for other areas of design .

behold my latest color transformation fave, and the inspiration for a new line of stationery and invitations. sunny lemon yellow, soft white marabou, hot pink silk and hints of moroccan texture? i'm wild about it.

i'll be sure to send my own after pics when the designs are complete. :o)